Preparing the way
Commentary
Object:
I love Advent. I always have -- the sense of expectancy and getting ready for something wonderful in the quiet of dark winter nights. But when I was dating my husband, who grew up in India, he was shocked when I told him I loved getting ready for Christmas. In the ten years he had lived in the United States, all he had ever heard from friends and coworkers were complaints. The chorus of complaints started a bit before Thanksgiving and escalated as Christmas approached. Women tended to complain about everything they had to do: decorating, cooking, buying gifts, sending cards. Men tended to complain about their in-laws coming to visit and shopping for gifts. Hearing this, I was horrified that this was his experience of how Americans celebrate Christmas. So to all who need to hear it this Sunday, I proclaim, "Repent!" Give up your complaints and welcome the grace of God in their stead. Prepare the way of the Lord.
Isaiah 40:1-11
Today's passage from Isaiah marks the beginning of that part of the prophetic book scholars call Second Isaiah or Deutero-Isaiah, which spans chapters 40-55 of Isaiah. Whereas First Isaiah (chapters 1-39, dating from the eighth century BCE) contains prophecies of judgment against Judah in light of the Assyrian threat, Second Isaiah contains prophecies of consolation to Israelites living in captivity in Babylon (sixth century BCE) in light of their coming liberation under Cyrus of Persia. While most of First Isaiah can be attributed to the actual prophet Isaiah, in Second Isaiah, another unknown prophetic voice picks up where Isaiah left off more than a century before.
In Isaiah 6, the prophet stands before the throne of God and an assembly of the heavenly host to receive his commission to prophesy judgment on Judah if they do not return to God's ways. In today's reading, Isaiah 40:1-11 revisits this heavenly council, but now the angelic host and prophet are commissioned to tell the people of God that they have paid the penalty for their sins and will soon be liberated from captivity in Babylon. The commands in the first two verses to proclaim comfort and the penalty are paid are in the plural, directed by an appointed messenger of God to the assembled angelic host. The voice in verses 3-5 is one of the members of the angelic council, commanding the building of a highway across the rocky desert, full of precipitous slopes, that separates Babylon from Judah. God will come on this highway to his people and liberate them. This scene is reminiscent of both the Exodus experience and the special roads Babylonians made for the festive processions of their own gods. In verse 6, another voice from the council speaks and at last we hear the prophet's voice asking, "What shall I cry?" and lamenting the weariness of the people, who wither and fade like the grass and flowers of the field. In verse 8, the angelic voice replies that even if the people are inconstant, God's word will stand forever. In verses 9-11, the prophetic commission is extended from the individual prophet to the city of Jerusalem, which is to proclaim the return of the captives to all the cities of Judah. The shepherd imagery in verse 11 reflects traditional imagery for a king of that era, and the shepherd leading the flock predicts a new exodus and return to the homeland of those in exile.
The multiple voices of the heavenly council and the prophet in Isaiah 40:1-11 are rarely noted by average churchgoers, even as many know and love this familiar passage. With a little extra planning, four or five readers could be assigned to read the different voices in the passage (five if you want a separate voice for verses 9-11, which could also be shared among the four earlier readers) as a means of clarifying the interchanges that take place. This shared reading more clearly anticipates the choir of angels that appear in Luke's account of Jesus' birth. In congregations that know Handel's Messiah, it could prove interesting to listen to the opening recitative, aria, and chorus, which interpret the first five verses of this reading, first in a solo tenor voice for verses 1-4, and then with the full chorus for verse 5.
2 Peter 3:8-15a
The earliest Christians thought that the end of the world was imminent. Christ would return in glory to execute a final judgment, welcoming the faithful and condemning the rest. How confusing and disheartening it was to see the first followers of Christ grow old and die! How could this be? Second Peter, likely written not by Peter himself but by a later follower, seeks to address this disappointment and offers encouragement to its hearers to stay the course, however long that course may be. This letter purports to be Peter's final message, written soon before his death, and warns against false prophets and false teachings that may come after him. The reason for the delay in Christ's return, the author writes in 3:9, is so that as many people as possible may repent and be saved before judgment comes. The author recalls Psalm 90:4, which describes how God's time is so different from our own: "For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night." The faithful should continue to wait in hope, living holy and righteous lives, and not be tempted into the evils of the surrounding society or swayed by false prophets who say that judgment will not come. In verse 13, the author proclaims that in the new creation, righteousness will be at home; thus those who wish to inhabit the new heaven and earth can prepare themselves by living righteously while they await its coming. The judgment 2 Peter describes is a purifying one of fire, since in Noah's time the earth was already washed clean by water in the flood (2 Peter 3:5-7).
Mark 1:1-8
Though preachers will have a second chance to preach on the baptism of Jesus in Mark's gospel on Epiphany 1, it is worth noting in this Advent season dominated by crèches and anticipation of the baby Jesus, that Mark, the oldest of all the gospels, begins the good news of Jesus not at his birth, but at his baptism. Though perhaps over-simplistic, I have long considered that the four gospels tell the story of Jesus' birth as messiah from four different perspectives. Matthew recounts Joseph's story; Luke recounts Mary's story; John recounts God's story; and Mark recounts Jesus' story. Whatever life Jesus lived before his baptism and wherever and however he was born to earthly life do not matter to Mark; when the heavens open and Jesus is named as God's Son, the Beloved (Mark 1:11) is where Mark's story starts and where, for the author of Mark, Jesus the Son of God, is truly born.
Today's verses provide a brief prelude to Jesus' baptism. The purported prophecy from Isaiah in verses 2-3 actually conflates quotes from today's Isaiah reading (verse 40:3), Exodus ("I am going to send an angel in front of you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to a place that I have prepared," [Exodus 20:23]) and Malachi ("See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me," [Malachi 3:1]). John the Baptist's appearance in verse 6 is reminiscent of Elijah's ("a hairy man, with a leather belt around his waist," [2 Kings 1:8]); Jesus himself says that Elijah has already come in Mark 9:13 as he and the disciples descend the mountain after the Transfiguration. In the penultimate verse of the Old Testament, Malachi identifies Elijah as the messenger who will come before the final judgment (Malachi 4:5), and Mark's early hearers would have associated Elijah's return with the end times. Why the details of John's diet are mentioned and what he actually did eat are sources of speculation among scholars; some say it was actually locust beans and tree sap, not insects and honey from bees. Regardless of the Baptist's actual diet, it is clear is that he gathered his food from the wilderness, rather than living on the food of agricultural or even pastoral life. In proclaiming Jesus' merit and power, John avows that he is not even worthy to be Jesus' slave, that is, the one who would untie and carry his master's sandals.
Application
How is it that so many of us get caught up in over-functioning around the holidays? There can be a sense of end times with Christmas Eve and then New Year's as deadlines for getting so much done: gifts, entertaining, decorating, festive meals, financial decisions, and donations to charity. We scurry around with our to-do lists, sometimes seeking to atone for sins of the year past -- letters unwritten, old friends neglected -- sometimes simply trying to keep up with all the expectations we set on ourselves along with the extra demands work, school, church, and friends place on our calendars. To all those caught in the holiday frenzy year after year, the prophet Isaiah speaks powerfully: "Comfort ye my people. Your penalty is paid." Imagine truly hearing and absorbing these words: "Your sins are forgiven. You don't have to rush around compensating for them anymore." Combine this with the words from 2 Peter: "strive to be found by [Jesus] at peace," and we receive a powerful message about what it truly means to prepare for Christ's coming.
Not everyone of course is rushing around during Advent. For those who are alone, for those who do not have the resources for great celebrations, for those who are sick or in mourning, the preparations of the surrounding culture can exacerbate their feelings of isolation and inadequacy. But these people too benefit from the same message: "Comfort. Your penalty is paid. Strive to be found by Jesus at peace." There is a tongue-in-cheek motto that has shown up in recent years on T-shirts, coffee mugs, and the like: "Jesus is coming! Look busy!" But really, our message today is: "Jesus is coming! Be at peace!" Of course that is so easy to say and can be so difficult to achieve. Because finding peace can mean letting go of everything that keeps us from it: other peoples' expectations and our own; our shame; our grievances; our sense of inadequacy or entitlement; our traumas; our sorrows; our hubris. And there is so much more. Perhaps the gift we need to spend the greatest time and attention preparing this season is what we will give to God at Christmas. Perhaps we know right away what we need to give to God: an argument that still festers, a hope disappointed, anger or sorrow at something in our own lives or the world at large. Perhaps we need time in these lengthening winter nights to pray and wait and see what it is that emerges as our gift to God this season.
I remember another Advent conversation I had a few years ago; this at a retreat day for clergy. As we talked about our Advent preparations, a colleague spoke of a time when she prayed deeply with the Christmas scriptures and found herself crying out, "Don't do it, Jesus! Don't be born -- not into this world! You're going to suffer and die on the cross!" Then we talked about how all the sin and sorrow and suffering in this world is precisely why Jesus came. God's infinite compassion meets us in the human infant in the manger. No great stern judge, but a child we can hold close. God waits and waits and waits for all to come to repentance, the author of 2 Peter writes. The greatest gift we can give this Christmas is our own repentance and turning to God.
Isaiah 40:1-11
Today's passage from Isaiah marks the beginning of that part of the prophetic book scholars call Second Isaiah or Deutero-Isaiah, which spans chapters 40-55 of Isaiah. Whereas First Isaiah (chapters 1-39, dating from the eighth century BCE) contains prophecies of judgment against Judah in light of the Assyrian threat, Second Isaiah contains prophecies of consolation to Israelites living in captivity in Babylon (sixth century BCE) in light of their coming liberation under Cyrus of Persia. While most of First Isaiah can be attributed to the actual prophet Isaiah, in Second Isaiah, another unknown prophetic voice picks up where Isaiah left off more than a century before.
In Isaiah 6, the prophet stands before the throne of God and an assembly of the heavenly host to receive his commission to prophesy judgment on Judah if they do not return to God's ways. In today's reading, Isaiah 40:1-11 revisits this heavenly council, but now the angelic host and prophet are commissioned to tell the people of God that they have paid the penalty for their sins and will soon be liberated from captivity in Babylon. The commands in the first two verses to proclaim comfort and the penalty are paid are in the plural, directed by an appointed messenger of God to the assembled angelic host. The voice in verses 3-5 is one of the members of the angelic council, commanding the building of a highway across the rocky desert, full of precipitous slopes, that separates Babylon from Judah. God will come on this highway to his people and liberate them. This scene is reminiscent of both the Exodus experience and the special roads Babylonians made for the festive processions of their own gods. In verse 6, another voice from the council speaks and at last we hear the prophet's voice asking, "What shall I cry?" and lamenting the weariness of the people, who wither and fade like the grass and flowers of the field. In verse 8, the angelic voice replies that even if the people are inconstant, God's word will stand forever. In verses 9-11, the prophetic commission is extended from the individual prophet to the city of Jerusalem, which is to proclaim the return of the captives to all the cities of Judah. The shepherd imagery in verse 11 reflects traditional imagery for a king of that era, and the shepherd leading the flock predicts a new exodus and return to the homeland of those in exile.
The multiple voices of the heavenly council and the prophet in Isaiah 40:1-11 are rarely noted by average churchgoers, even as many know and love this familiar passage. With a little extra planning, four or five readers could be assigned to read the different voices in the passage (five if you want a separate voice for verses 9-11, which could also be shared among the four earlier readers) as a means of clarifying the interchanges that take place. This shared reading more clearly anticipates the choir of angels that appear in Luke's account of Jesus' birth. In congregations that know Handel's Messiah, it could prove interesting to listen to the opening recitative, aria, and chorus, which interpret the first five verses of this reading, first in a solo tenor voice for verses 1-4, and then with the full chorus for verse 5.
2 Peter 3:8-15a
The earliest Christians thought that the end of the world was imminent. Christ would return in glory to execute a final judgment, welcoming the faithful and condemning the rest. How confusing and disheartening it was to see the first followers of Christ grow old and die! How could this be? Second Peter, likely written not by Peter himself but by a later follower, seeks to address this disappointment and offers encouragement to its hearers to stay the course, however long that course may be. This letter purports to be Peter's final message, written soon before his death, and warns against false prophets and false teachings that may come after him. The reason for the delay in Christ's return, the author writes in 3:9, is so that as many people as possible may repent and be saved before judgment comes. The author recalls Psalm 90:4, which describes how God's time is so different from our own: "For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night." The faithful should continue to wait in hope, living holy and righteous lives, and not be tempted into the evils of the surrounding society or swayed by false prophets who say that judgment will not come. In verse 13, the author proclaims that in the new creation, righteousness will be at home; thus those who wish to inhabit the new heaven and earth can prepare themselves by living righteously while they await its coming. The judgment 2 Peter describes is a purifying one of fire, since in Noah's time the earth was already washed clean by water in the flood (2 Peter 3:5-7).
Mark 1:1-8
Though preachers will have a second chance to preach on the baptism of Jesus in Mark's gospel on Epiphany 1, it is worth noting in this Advent season dominated by crèches and anticipation of the baby Jesus, that Mark, the oldest of all the gospels, begins the good news of Jesus not at his birth, but at his baptism. Though perhaps over-simplistic, I have long considered that the four gospels tell the story of Jesus' birth as messiah from four different perspectives. Matthew recounts Joseph's story; Luke recounts Mary's story; John recounts God's story; and Mark recounts Jesus' story. Whatever life Jesus lived before his baptism and wherever and however he was born to earthly life do not matter to Mark; when the heavens open and Jesus is named as God's Son, the Beloved (Mark 1:11) is where Mark's story starts and where, for the author of Mark, Jesus the Son of God, is truly born.
Today's verses provide a brief prelude to Jesus' baptism. The purported prophecy from Isaiah in verses 2-3 actually conflates quotes from today's Isaiah reading (verse 40:3), Exodus ("I am going to send an angel in front of you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to a place that I have prepared," [Exodus 20:23]) and Malachi ("See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me," [Malachi 3:1]). John the Baptist's appearance in verse 6 is reminiscent of Elijah's ("a hairy man, with a leather belt around his waist," [2 Kings 1:8]); Jesus himself says that Elijah has already come in Mark 9:13 as he and the disciples descend the mountain after the Transfiguration. In the penultimate verse of the Old Testament, Malachi identifies Elijah as the messenger who will come before the final judgment (Malachi 4:5), and Mark's early hearers would have associated Elijah's return with the end times. Why the details of John's diet are mentioned and what he actually did eat are sources of speculation among scholars; some say it was actually locust beans and tree sap, not insects and honey from bees. Regardless of the Baptist's actual diet, it is clear is that he gathered his food from the wilderness, rather than living on the food of agricultural or even pastoral life. In proclaiming Jesus' merit and power, John avows that he is not even worthy to be Jesus' slave, that is, the one who would untie and carry his master's sandals.
Application
How is it that so many of us get caught up in over-functioning around the holidays? There can be a sense of end times with Christmas Eve and then New Year's as deadlines for getting so much done: gifts, entertaining, decorating, festive meals, financial decisions, and donations to charity. We scurry around with our to-do lists, sometimes seeking to atone for sins of the year past -- letters unwritten, old friends neglected -- sometimes simply trying to keep up with all the expectations we set on ourselves along with the extra demands work, school, church, and friends place on our calendars. To all those caught in the holiday frenzy year after year, the prophet Isaiah speaks powerfully: "Comfort ye my people. Your penalty is paid." Imagine truly hearing and absorbing these words: "Your sins are forgiven. You don't have to rush around compensating for them anymore." Combine this with the words from 2 Peter: "strive to be found by [Jesus] at peace," and we receive a powerful message about what it truly means to prepare for Christ's coming.
Not everyone of course is rushing around during Advent. For those who are alone, for those who do not have the resources for great celebrations, for those who are sick or in mourning, the preparations of the surrounding culture can exacerbate their feelings of isolation and inadequacy. But these people too benefit from the same message: "Comfort. Your penalty is paid. Strive to be found by Jesus at peace." There is a tongue-in-cheek motto that has shown up in recent years on T-shirts, coffee mugs, and the like: "Jesus is coming! Look busy!" But really, our message today is: "Jesus is coming! Be at peace!" Of course that is so easy to say and can be so difficult to achieve. Because finding peace can mean letting go of everything that keeps us from it: other peoples' expectations and our own; our shame; our grievances; our sense of inadequacy or entitlement; our traumas; our sorrows; our hubris. And there is so much more. Perhaps the gift we need to spend the greatest time and attention preparing this season is what we will give to God at Christmas. Perhaps we know right away what we need to give to God: an argument that still festers, a hope disappointed, anger or sorrow at something in our own lives or the world at large. Perhaps we need time in these lengthening winter nights to pray and wait and see what it is that emerges as our gift to God this season.
I remember another Advent conversation I had a few years ago; this at a retreat day for clergy. As we talked about our Advent preparations, a colleague spoke of a time when she prayed deeply with the Christmas scriptures and found herself crying out, "Don't do it, Jesus! Don't be born -- not into this world! You're going to suffer and die on the cross!" Then we talked about how all the sin and sorrow and suffering in this world is precisely why Jesus came. God's infinite compassion meets us in the human infant in the manger. No great stern judge, but a child we can hold close. God waits and waits and waits for all to come to repentance, the author of 2 Peter writes. The greatest gift we can give this Christmas is our own repentance and turning to God.
